Series
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
The Book of Esther
The Book of Esther
Sermons
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
Introduction to Acts
Introduction to Acts

Discouragement

Jesus: God’s Gentle Servant

Read: Matthew 12:9-21
Text: Verses 15-21

“Notice that our text speaks of salvation in terms of justice. The salvation that Jesus came to bring involves justice. And justice means that our sins cannot just be overlooked and ignored. If anyone’s sin was just overlooked and ignored, there could never be a world of justice and peace and harmony. And what that means is that for Jesus to not break a bruised reed or not quench a smoldering wick, he himself had to absorb the just penalty for sin. For Jesus to be gentle and nurturing to us in our weakness and sinfulness, he had to pay the penalty for our sins. That is the meaning of the cross.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Dark Night of the Soul

“This passage shows us that life can be very hard for the people of God. Sometimes it is easy and pleasant. But sometimes it is very hard. It can be hard for various reasons. But there will be times in our lives when we may have trouble believing a lot of what God says to us in his word about working everything together for good and being a just and a loving and a compassionate God. So that is one thing that this passage shows us. This is the word of God and the word of God is showing us that sometimes the people of God have a very hard time reconciling what the Bible says about God and what their experience of life or their observation of life seems to be saying about God. We can sometimes experience the dark night of the soul where we question God and his ways with us or with the world in general and see life as pointless and not worth living.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

Advice from a Disillusioned Teacher

“But the author of Ecclesiastes does not take that route. He knows that God is sovereign. He knows that God is somehow involved in everything that happens. And this is a huge part of his problem. The great problem that he is struggling with is exactly the fact that he knows that God is somehow involved in every bad thing that happens. This is why he is so disillusioned with life in God’s world.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra